Campbell University

About Campbell University

On Jan. 5, 1887, James Archibald Campbell, a 26-year-old Baptist minister, welcomed 16 students to a small church in Buies Creek, N.C., for the first day of classes for the school he founded: Buies Creek Academy. By the end of the first term, there were 92 students. Since then, Buies Creek Academy has evolved to become Campbell Junior College (1926), Campbell College (1961), and Campbell University (1979). Throughout these transformations, the university has remained true to its founding principles to address the most pressing needs of North Carolina and to educate men and women for Christian service around the world.

A testimony to how these founding principles still guide Campbell University today is the establishment of its School of Osteopathic Medicine. When Campbell University’s medical school enrolled its first class of students in August 2013, it was the first one to open in North Carolina in 35 years. It emphasizes preparing primary care physicians to practice in underserved and rural areas.